What can I do to slow down climate change today? Three answers.

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“How can I slow down climate change?”

This is a question that those of us who care about our planet’s well-being frequently ask ourselves. Almost any activities we do will release greenhouse gases. Driving to work, heating the house, throwing out our trash each week…the list seems endless. And, of course there are our countless choices which indirectly accelerate climate change. Here are three actions you can take today to reduce your personal emissions.

1. Visit the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) website to use their free tools. Their personal greenhouse gas emissions calculator gives you a way to estimate your total greenhouse gas emission and then helps you figure out the right ways to decrease it. After that, the EPA tells you simple ways to reduce your impact on climate change, at home, at work or at school.

2. Go Meatless on Mondays. If you want to slow down climate change, a great place to start is looking at what you eat. While the US only comprises 5% of the world’s population, we consume more than 15% of the world’s meat. Check out non-vegetarian Mark Bittman’s comprehensive look at America’s meat consumption. Then, go to the Meatless Monday website to learn how and why you should go meatless on Mondays.

A clarification: this meatless move is advisable for those of us city and suburb dwellers, who buy meat after it goes through a long chain of production. For those of us who live on a property with livestock that we later eat, or who live nearby a responsible rancher, raising meat can be a boon to agricultural production, providing free fertilizer for the ground and turning sun-grown grass into calories for us. Like almost everything important in life, it is impossible to break this issue down into black and white, good and evil, vegetarians and meat-eaters. However, if you want to start lessening your impact on climate change today, taking a serious look at your diet is a great place to start.

3. Sign up to participate in 10.10.10, a global day of positive action towards climate change. From changing a lightbulb to planting a tree to transitioning to solar power, anyone can join in the world-wide party on October 10, 2010. Learn more on the FOUR YEARS. GO. Guide to 10.10.10.

What actions are you taking to slow down climate change, today?

Hameed_786

i had a luxury car i changed it to bicycle

Marion

We’ve reduced from two cars to one, and limit our use of that to one tankful of petrol a month.